High-speed wire take-up and spool changer



Sept. 15, 1964 H. L. HOLLINGSWORTH E'IJAL HIGH-SPEED WIRE TAKE-UP AND SPOOL CHANGER 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 19, 1961 INVENTORS HENRY L- HOLLINGSWORTH VERNE l'l. LAUSEN w #7537 W TTOZ N fiept. 15, 1964 H. L. HOLLINGSVVORTH ETAL HIGHSPEED WIRE TAKE-UP AND SPOOL CHANGER Filed July 19, 1961 .6 Sheets-Sheet 2 I [Hum ll HHIHHHHIIHHHH INVENTORS AEERY L.HOLLING$WORTH VERNE H-LAUSEN p 15, 1964 H. L. HOLLlNG SWORTH ETVAL 3,148,841

v HIGH-SPEED WIRE TAKE-UP AND SPOOL CHANGER Filed July 19, 195i 6 Sheets-Sheet 5' Sept. 15, 1964 H. L. HOLLINGSWORTH ETAL 3,148,841 HIGH-SPEED WIRE TAKE-UP AND SPOOL CHANGER Filed July 19, 1961 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 VENTOR HENRY LINGS3ORTH VERNE H. LAUSEN Sept. 15, 1964 H. HOLLINGSWORTH ETAL 3,148,841

HIGH-SPEED WIRE TAKE-UP AND, SPOOL CHANGER Filed July 19, 1961 e Sheets-Sheet 5 gIO Sept. 15, 1964 H. L. HOLLINGSWORTH ETAL 3,148,341

HIGHSPEED WIRE TAKE-UP AND SPOOL CHANGER Filed July 19, 1961 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 as 80 7 1 45 35 4 i;90 o C F '4? 93b 85b 24 L46 INVENTORS HENRY L-HOLLINGSWORTH BYVERNE H. LAUSEN United States Patent 3,148,841 HIGH-SPEED WIRE TAKE-UP AND SPOOL CHANGER Henry L. Hollingsworth and Verne H. Lausen, Fort Wayne, 1nd, assignors to Phelps Dodge Copper Prodnets Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 1?, 1961, Ser. No. 125,243 11 Claims. (Cl. 242-25) The present invention relates to machinery for the handling of wire and more particularly to a take-up device for winding wire on spools.

In the production of fine wire, for example of 40 to 48 gauge, it has been the practice to wind the wire on a rotating take-up spool and to monitor the winding by skilled personnel. The operator measures the amount of wire to be taken up on the spool, or judges the amount by eye, stops the spool after it has wound up the correct amount, removes the full spool from the spindle which rotates the spool, places an empty spool on the spindle, cuts the wire, winds the cut end of the wire around the empty spool and presses a switch to rotate the empty spool. In order to attain commercially acceptable speeds of about 200 feet per minute of 40 gauge wire, the operator must be skilled and possess a high degree of manual dexterity.

It is an objective of the present invention to provide a device which winds wire on a take-up spool and brings an empty take-up spool into position to be wound upon.

It is a further objective of the present invention that the device be simple to operate so that unskilled personnel may be used.

It is a further objective to increase the efficiency of the wire take-up mechanism so that a fine 40-48 gauge wire may be wound on a spool at a rate of 1,000 feet per minute or higher.

In accordance with the present invention a cage (a rotatingspindle carrier) is provided upon which the shafts of a pair of independently rotating take-up spool spindles are mounted. The cage rotates when the first take-up spool is wound full of wire to shift the take-up spools relative to the source of wire, enabling an unskilled operator or automatic means to transfer the wire from the first take-up spool on which the wire is wound to a second take-up spool. Preferably, the device automatically cuts the wire between the full and empty spools.

Other objectives of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the device of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view looking at the device from the side;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a partial view of the wire cutting portion of the device;

FIG. 6 is a partial front view of the wire cutting portion of the device;

FIGS. 7-13 are side outline views showing the rotational progression of the cage of the illustrated device;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the spindle; and

FIG. 15 is a wiring diagram of the illustrated device.

The device of the present invention as illustrated comprises generally a wire take-up portion, a wire leveling portion, a wire cutting portion and electrical controls for each of the portions.

In FIGS. 1 and 3 the wire take-up portion of the present invention is shown as comprising a motor 1 having a shaft 2, the shaft being fixedly connected to rubber driving wheel 3 by bolt 4. Motor 1 is of the 110 volts A.C. type. An annular cage (rotating carrier) 6 is driven by 3,148,841 Patented Sept. 15,, 1964 the rubber driving wheel 3 upon actuation of motor 1 and rotates about a fixed central axis. The cage 6 is maintained in its correct alignment by freely rotating cage support rollers 8 which rotate about fixed shafts 9, the shafts being fixedly attached to support member 10.

A separate motor 11, whose speed is variable is secured to support 10 and drives an eddy current clutch 12. Clutch 12 consistsof two ceramic disc magnets 13 and 14 held together by bolt 15, the discs creating a strong magnetic flux field across the space between them. Two soft copper discs 16 and 1'7 protrude into the space between the ceramic discs 13 and 14. Biasing magnets 5 are provided near each of the discs 16-17 to compensate, by adjusting their distance to the discs, for variations in bearing friction, disc composition, disc thickness, and other magnetic variations. Preferably, the copper discs 16-17 are approximately equally spaced between the ceramic discs 1314. The copper discs 16 and 17 are secured to shafts 18 and 19, respectively, rotatably mounted on cage 6 at diametrically opposed points relative to the cage axis. Shafts 18 and 19 carry removably afiixed spindles 20 and 21, respectively. The spindles 20 and 21, which serve to mount the take-up spools, are attached to their shafts by means of threaded screw members 22 and may be changed so as to be adapted to the internal diameter of the take-up spools.

The wire leveling portion, shown generally at 23 (FIGS. 3 and 4), functions to feed the wire in a uniform and even manner over the surface of the take-up spool. It comprises a traverse driving motor 24 of the instantly reversible synchronous type. The shaft 24a of motor 24 drives threaded shaft 25 through coupling 26. Shaft 25 is threaded through tube 27 so that the latter rides in either direction along shaft 25, depending upon the direc tion of rotation of motor 24. Reversal switch 54 (FIG. 4), which can be operated from either of its sides, controls the direction of motor 24 and is operated by lugs 55 and 55 which are adjustably attached to threaded lug rod 56. Rod 51 is fixedly attached to support member 57 which is attached to tube 27, so that lugs 55-55 move with tube 27. Lugs 55 and 55' may be adjusted on rod 56 to vary the length of traverse of tube 27 by motor 24, to correspond to the length of the spool being wound.

A bypass solenoid 51, having bypass arm 51a as its moving member, is mounted near the leveling portion 23 to deflect the wire upon activation of this solenoid. A brake 49 is positioned near the disc 16 so that, when activated, it prevents rotation of the disc.

A traverse support member 28 is fixedly attached by the mounting members 29 and S7 to external tube 27. Traverse member 28 is adapted to ride along the flat top of stationary support 10:: (FIG. 4), which prevents the traverse assembly 272829 from rotating with shaft 25.

Mounting member 32, fixedly attached to support member 28 by mounting member 32, has at its top portion a freely rotating pulley 30 which rotates on shaft 31. The wire to be wound on thetake-up spool rides over pulley 30, which serves as a wire guide. Operation .of motor 24, under control of reversing switch 54 and its actuating lugs 55-55, causes reciprocating motion of tube 27, traversesupport member 28, and pulley 30 causing the wire to be distributed evenly back and forth over the take-up spool.

The purpose of the wire cut-off portion of the device (FIGS. 2, 3, 5 and 6) is to cut'the Wire between the spools at the proper moment in the cycle. This mechanism, shown generally at 33, comprises a mounting member 34, an elongated arm 35 which pivots at'its bottom about pivot point 36 on mounting member 34, and a saw-toothed end shown generally at 37 (FIG. 2) attached to arm 35. Saw-toothed end 37 includes a fixed member having saw teeth which is rigidly attached to elongated arm 35.

3 A slidable member 66 provided with saw teeth slides within bands '77 attached to member 65. A thin stiff rod 6'7 is attached at one end to the bottom part of slidable member 65 and at the other end to pull arm 38, as shown at 68 (FIG. 3). Pull arm 33 has a pivoted connection 39 to the lower part of arm 35. Upon operation of pull arm 33, arm 35 swings counter-clockwise (FIG. 3) and simultaneously rod 67 pushes upon slidable member 66 causing it to move upwardly. Swinging of arm 35 in the opposite direction causes rod 67 to draw member 66 downwardly. The upward movement of slidable member 66 catches the wire to be cut in its teeth and forces the caught wire against the fixed cutting teeth of fixed member 65, thereby cutting the wire. At its end remote from arm 35, the pull arm 38 is attached to arm ill of bell crank lever 62. A tension spring 41 is connected between a portion 42 of arm 4t? and a holding member 43 in the upright bracket 34' secured to support member 34. Spring 41 tends to urge arm 35 in the clockwise direction (FIG. 3).

A spool-changing switch 45, which closes an electrical circuit to activate the system when pressed down, is mounted in an enclosed switch box 44 (FIG. 1). A traverse switch 46 (FIG. 4) cooperates with switch 45 to prevent star-ting the device in the middle of a cycle. Switch 46 is mounted on support member 46' so that its protruding switch arm 47 is struck by a protruding lug 48 which isafiixed to tarverse support member 28. Upon depression of switch 45 and subsequent closing of traverse switch 46, traversing motor 24 is stopped at the spoolchanging position ofthe traverse, whereupon solenoid 65) (connected to bell crank 62 through solenoid arm 61) is deenergized to allow spring ll to swing bell crank 62 about its pivot 63 to release brake 49, through rod 49a, and to cock the wire cut-off device 33.

The reference numeral 78 designates a tension indicator which may be provided to show the tension in the wire 64 being wound.

Referring now to the wiring diagram of FIG. 15, the reference numerals 8t and S1 designate the opposite sides of an electircal current source, such as a source of 110 volts AC. The power line represented by the side as includes a master switch 82 which, when closed, connects motor 11 across the current source so as'to drive the take-up spool spindles 2t and 21 through the magnetic clutch means previously described. Closing of switch 82 also establishes a circuit from line 88 through wire 85, normally closed switch 84a of relay 84, and traversing motor 7 24 to the power line 31. At the same time, a parallel circuit is established from wire 83 through switch 84b of relay 8d, and solenoid 6th to power line 81. Thus, with master switch 82 closed, the solenoid 6% is energized to hold brake 4% against the adjacent disc 16 (FIGS. 1 and 2) while the other disc 1'7 is driven by motor 11 so as to wind the wire evenly back and forth on the corresponding spool incident to operation of the traversing mechanism by motor At the same time, the cutter mechanism 33 is held in its advanced position (FIG. 3) but cannot efiect any cutting action on the wire due to the fact that this mechanism is now stationary.

The spool-changing switch connects power line 89 through a relay 85 and wire 86 to the other power line 31. Switch 45 is of the push-button type which automatically reopens after momentary depressing of the switch button. Relay 35 controls a normally open holding switch din connected in parallel to switch 15. Relay 35 also controls a normally open switch 855 which, when closed, prepares a circuit from wire 83 through relay 84,

normally closed switch 87, wire 87a, and the traversing an indexing switch 58, and motor 1 to the other power 81.

The indexing switch 53 is actuated by a follower 58b bearing against the periphery of the annular cage or spool spindle carrier 6. The latter is provided with diametrically opposed holes 59 into which the follower 53b is adapted to drop momentarily as the cage is rotated by motor 1, thereby pulsing the indexing mechanism of switch 55. After a predetermined number of such indexing pulses, the switch 53 automatically opens its contacts 53a to deenergize motor 1, these contacts then reclosing after a slight delay so that switch 58 is ready for the next cycle. As indexing switches of this type are well known in the art, the details of switch 58 are omitted here. The switch is set to open its contacts 53a after an odd number of pulses, so that at the end of each cycle the cage 6 will be displaced 180 relative to its position at the beginning of the cycle. For example, if the wire from a filled spool is to be wrapped four times around the new spool, switch is set to open its contacts 58a upon the ninth pulse represented by the follower 58b dropping into ,a hole 59 after 4 /2 revolutions of cage 6 from its starting position.

The indexing switch 58 also actuates switch 87 through a connection 39, whereby switch 87 is opened and closed simultaneously with switch contacts 58a. Also, traversing switch 46 is operatively connected through connection 90 to switch @1 in the circuit 86 for relay 85. Thus, when traversing switch 46 is closed by lug 48, when the traversing mechanism .23 is in the spool-changing position (at its extreme left position in FIG. 4), switch 91 is opened to prevent energizingof relay 85 by operation of the spoolchanging switch 45. In other words, the spool-changing operation can be initiated only when traversing mechanism 23 is displaced from the position in which it remains during the spool-changing operation.

A cant wheel 92 is adapted to be driven simultaneously with the rotation of cage 6 but through only one revolution during 4 /2 revolutions through which cage 6 rotates in a complete cycle in the example mentioned heretofore. As shown in FIG. 15, a roller 93 bears against the periphery of cage 6 so that rotation of the latter drives the cam wheel 92 through a suitable gear reduction 94 to provide the aforemenioned ratio of one revolution of wheel a 92 for each 4 /2 revolutions of cage 6. The wheel 92 has four peripheral cams 92a each of which, during rotaand last cams being spaced 80. and 40, respectively,

switch 46 to the other power line till. The relay 84 consince this switch shunts the relay'switch $512. When relay switch 84d is closed, it establishes a circuit from wire 83. through wire 83, the normally closed contacts 58a of from the actuator of switch 93a when wheel 92 is in its starting position as shown. Switch 93a is connected at one side to power line 81 through wire 93b and is connected at the other side through bypass solenoid 51 to wire $8 and thus through relay switch 84d and wire 83 to power line 80. Accordingly, the bypass solenoid 51 is briefly energized four times during the cycling of cage 6 to prevent rotation of the cage from causing the Wire to be wound around the previousy filled spool, as will be described in more detail presently.

With the master switch 82 closed and the parts'in 7 their positions shown in FIG. 15, let it be assumed that the winding of the spool 52 on shaft 19 has been 'completed and that it is now desired to wind the wire 64 on the empty spool 53 on the other shaft 18. T o elfect this spool change, switch 45 is actuated to energize relay and thereby close its holding switch 85a as well as its switch 8511. When the traversing mechanism 23 reaches the outer end of its traverse, whereby pulley 3b is aligned 85b, 87 and 46 and closing the holding switch 840 of relay '84.. While this closing of traversing switch 46 causes the switch 91 to open and thus break the circuit of relay 85, the latter is of the slow release type so that its switch 84b remains closed for the brief interval necessary to continue the energizing of relay 84 until its holding switch 840 takes over. With switch 91 thus opened, subsequent actuation of spool-changing switch 45 is ineflective during the spool-changing cycle which has now been initiated. The energizing of relay 84 opens switch 84a to stop the traversing motor 24, whereby the traversing mechanism 23 remains in its extreme outerposition so as to maintain switch 46 closed. Energizing of relay 84 also deenergizes solenoid 60 by opening relay switch 84b, and as a result the spring 41 acts through bell crank 40 to release the brake 49 and retract the cutter mechanism 33 to its cocked position (clockwise in FIG. 3). At the same time, the relay switch 84d is closed to energize the cage motor 1 through indexing switch 58. Thus, with both spools 52 and 53 being driven from motor 11, the cage 6 is rotated counter-clockwise as seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 7 through 13.

The progression of the cage 6 in the spool-changin operation is shown more particularly in FIGS. 7 through 13. From its starting position shown in FIG. 7, the cage rotates through the positions shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. As shown in FIG. 10, the cage has been rotated 270, the wire still being taken up on spool 52 and being pulled freely over the top of the empty spool 53. At about the time when the cage 6 has rotated a complete revolution (FIG. 11), the first cam 92a on wheel 92 closes switch 93a to energize bypass solenoid 51, whereupon the latter moves bypass arm 51a laterally so as to deflect the wire 64 outwardly as shown in FIG. 1. In this way, the wire extending partly around empty spool 53 from the now nonatraversing pulley 30 is displaced beyond the outer end of the underlying filled spool 52 (FIG. 1), so that continued rotation of cage 6 causes the wire 64 to wrap around empty spool 53 as shown FIG. 12. However, the wire thus displaced outwardly by the bypass arm 51a is still held on the outer end portion of empty spool 53 due to the usual flanges at the ends of the spools and which are shown in FIG. 1 but are omitted from FIGS. 7-13 in the interest of simplicity.

The above-described rotation of cage 6 is repeated until the cage has rotated 4 /2 revolutions, the bypass solenoid 51 being energized briefly at about the end of each full 360 turn of the cage in order to clear the wire 64 from the filled spool 52 as the latter passes from the position shown in FIG. 11 to the position shown in FIG, 12. Each time after the wire 64 has cleared the spool 52 as shown in FIG. 12, the corresponding cam 92a diseng-ages switch 93a so as to reopen the latter and deenergize the bypass solenoid 51, whereby further rotation of the cage continues to wrap the wire around empty spool 53. Accordingly, at the end of 4 /2 revolutions of cage 6, the wire will have wrapped four times around the empty spool 53 and the latter will be in the position to be wound as shown in FIG. 13, although the rotating spool 52 will continue to take up wire at the outer end portions of this spool from the wire passing around the empty spool 53.

At this moment, indexing switch 58 opens its contacts 58a due to the ninth indexing pulse created by the follower 58b dropping into the aligned cage hole 59. As a result, cage motor 1 is deenergized and switch S7 is opened to break the circuit through relay 84, thereby reclosing the relay switches 84a and 84b, restarting the traversing motor 24 and re-energizing the solenoid 60. The latter then actuates brake 49 to hold the filled spool 52 stationary her to produce the friction necessary to draw the wire on spool 53 after the wire sub-pass 69 between the two spools has been cut by the mechanism 33. The filled spool 52 may be removed from the cage 6 and replaced by an empty spool at any convenient time before the spool 53 is filled, so that the next operation of spoolchanging switch 45 will repeat the cycling previously described.

It will be understood that relay releases its switches 85a85b shortly after the spool changing cycle has been initiated by closing of traverse switch 46 and opening of interlock switch 91, so that switch 85b is open before completion of the cycle. Thus, when switches 58 and 87 reclose shortly after completion of the cycle, a new cycle cannot be initiated until spool-changing switch 45 is again actuated. While the driving connection between cage 6 and cam wheel 92 is shown schematically as in cluding a roller 93 driven by the cage, the cam wheel would normally be driven positively from the cage, as through gearing, to prevent slippage in the driving connection. Also, the reversal switch 54 for the traverse motor 24 is not shown in the wiring diagram of FIG. 15, as the manner of associating this switch with motor 24 for the purpose previously described will be readily ap parent to those skilled in the art. If desired, the reversible motor 24 may be of the DC. type energized through a a rectifier inserted in the position of the motor 24 in FIG. 15.

We claim:

1. In a wire take-up device, the combination of a spindle carrier mounted for rotation about an axis, a pair of spindles rotatably mounted on the carrier, the spindles having their rotation axes displaced from each other and at least one of said spindles having its rotation axis displaced from said rotation axis of the carrier, a take-up spool removably mounted on each spindle and rotatable therewith, a guide for guiding Wire to the carrier, spindle driving means for rotating each spindle on the carrier to wind wire from the guide onto the corresponding spool, carrier driving means operable intermittently to rotate the carrier substantially continuously through a cycle including a plurality of revolutions during operation of said spindle driving means, to wrap wire from the guide onto an empty one of said spools while the wire is being wound on the other spool by rotation of the corresponding spindle, whereby said other spool draws wire thereto by way of a wire pass extending from the guide to wire wrapped on said empty spool and thence by way of a wire sub-pass extending from said empty spool to said other spool, and a bypass element operable to prevent engagement of said wire pass with said other spool as the carrier rotates, thereby to effect a plurality of wire wraps completely around said empty spool during said rotation of the carrier so that wire from the guide is adapted to be wound on the empty spool upon completion of said cycle and cutting of said wire sub-pass.

2. The combination defined in claim 1, comprising also mechanism for traversing the guide back and forth to distribute the wire along the spool on which the Wire is being wound by rotation of the corresponding spindle, and means for rendering said traversing mechanism inoperative in response to operation of the carrierdriving.

means.

3. The combination defined in claim 1, in which said bypass element is actuatable to displace said wire pass from the path of said other spool as the carrier rotates, the combination comprising also an operative connection between the carrier and the bypass element for actuating said element each time said other spool approaches said wire pass.

4. The combination defined in claim 1, comprising also a cutter operable in response to a predetermined rotation of the carrier to cut the wire sub-pass extending between said spools.

5. The combination defined in claim 1, comprising also a a brake for arresting rotation of said empty spool during winding of the wire on said other spool while said carrier driving means is inoperative.

6. The combination defined in claim 1, comprising also a brake for arresting rotation of said empty spool during winding of the wire on said other spool while said carrier driving means is inoperative, said brake being releasable in response to operation of said carrier driving means;

7. The combination defined in claim 1, in which said carrier is an annular element, said spindle driving means extending through the central part of said annular element' 8. The combination defined in claim 1, comprising also means responsive to operation of said carrier driving means for actuating said bypass element periodically as the carrier rotates.

9. The combination defined in claim 1, comprising also mechanism for traversing the guide back and forth to distribute the wire along the spool on which the wire is being Wound by rotation of the corresponding spindle, and an interlock between the traversing mechanism and said carrier driving means for initiating operation of the carrier driving means only when the guide is in a predetermined position;

10. Apparatus of the character described comprising the combination of a spindle carrier, means operable intermittently to rotate the carrier about an axis, a pair of Wire take-up spools removably mounted on the carrier forrotation about spaced axes, at least one spoolrhaving its rotation axis displaced from the carrier axis, a guide for guiding wire to the carrier, spool driving means adapted to draw wire to said one spool from the guide, a bypass element operable to deflect said wire endwise of said one spool, and means for operating the bypass element periodically While rotating the carrier substantially continuously through a plurality of revolutions during rota,- tion of said one spool by the spool driving means, to effect a plurality of wire wraps around the other spool as the wire is wound on said one spool, whereby the wire is adapted to be wound on said other spool upon cutting of the wire extending between said spools.

11. The combination defined in claim 10, comprising also a cutter operable in response to a predetermined rotation of the carrier to cut the wire extending between said spools.

References Cited in the file of this patent V UNITED STATES PATENTS I Lloydet 1. Apr. 4, 1961 

10. APPARATUS OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED COMPRISING THE COMBINATION OF A SPINDLE CARRIER, MEANS OPERABLE INTERMITTENTLY TO ROTATE THE CARRIER ABOUT AN AXIS, A PAIR OF WIRE TAKE-UP SPOOLS REMOVABLY MOUNTED ON THE CARRIER FOR ROTATION ABOUT SPACED AXES, AT LEAST ONE SPOOL HAVING ITS ROTATION AXIS DISPLACED FROM THE CARRIER AXIS, A GUIDE FOR GUIDING WIRE TO THE CARRIER, SPOOL DRIVING MEANS FOR ROTATING EACH SPOOL ON THE CARRIER TO WIND WIRE FROM THE GUIDE ONTO THE SPOOL, WHEREBY ONE OF SAID SPOOLS IS ADAPTED TO DRAW WIRE TO SAID ONE SPOOL FROM THE GUIDE, A BYPASS ELEMENT OPERABLE TO DEFLECT SAID WIRE ENDWISE OF SAID ONE SPOOL, AND MEANS FOR OPERATING THE BYPASS ELEMENT PERIODICALLY WHILE ROTATING THE CARRIER SUBSTANTIALLY CONTINUOUSLY THROUGH A PLURALITY OF REVOLUTIONS DURING ROTATION OF SAID ONE SPOOL BY THE SPOOL DRIVING MEANS, TO EFFECT A PLURALITY OF WIRE WRAPS AROUND THE OTHER SPOOL AS THE WIRE IS WOUND ON SAID ONE SPOOL, WHEREBY THE WIRE IS ADAPTED TO BE WOUND ON SAID OTHER SPOOL UPON CUTTING OF THE WIRE EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID SPOOLS. 